Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 776

◈ 776. People Targeting Feathers

“An assassination? Of the Prince?”

The black magician repeated the question, followed by a burst of loud laughter from behind Duke Ladderun.

Duke Ladderun flinched and whirled around.

As if from thin air, the pink-haired black magician, the one who had previously seized his land, was clutching his stomach and roaring with laughter.

Duke Ladderun’s face paled at the unpleasant sound.

“When did you get here?”

The pink-haired man didn’t answer, continuing to mock him with his boisterous laughter.

After a moment, he abruptly stopped laughing, poked the Duke’s shoulder with a finger, and asked, “Hey, Duke, why should *we* take such a risk?”

“We? I didn’t say anything to you,” the Duke said, grinding his teeth.

“That friend and I are a team,” the pink-haired man explained in an annoyingly friendly tone.

“Whether you’re a team or not, I didn’t say anything *to you*, ” the Duke repeated. He disliked the black magician he had made a deal with, but he also resented the pink-haired man who had suddenly appeared and acted like a robber.

The pink-haired man ignored the Duke’s words and continued, “We’re already benefiting enough from the current deal, Duke. But now you want us to target the Prince? There’s no more profit to gain, so wouldn’t it be too risky to take on out of… loyalty?”

The pink-haired man whispered, looking down at the Duke mockingly.

The black magician who had made a deal with the Duke quietly continued to work on his puzzle.

This pink-haired black magician seemed to have more influence than the other one.

“Why do you keep interfering? Why do you keep interfering!” Seeing this, Duke Ladderun couldn’t contain himself and shouted, his insides churning. “The person I made a deal with is that black magician over there, the one doing the puzzle! Why do you keep interfering!”

Black magicians were fearsome beings, but the Duke was already desperate.

Since he was forced to be in the same situation against his will, he couldn’t just sit back and take it.

“Well… because I’m stronger?” the pink-haired man replied, as if perplexed that he had to state the obvious.

Duke Ladderun’s neck flushed red with anger.

The pink-haired man smirked, scattered the other black magician’s puzzle with a flick of his hand as if showing off, and then disappeared.

“……”

The black magician who had made a deal with the Duke frowned slightly and looked down at the scattered puzzle.

But that was all. He couldn’t bring himself to get angry, sighed, and started the puzzle again.

The Duke glared at the scene, huffed, and stormed out of the room.

He marched straight to the garden and kicked a perfectly good lantern. A passing servant quickened his pace to avoid him.

The Duke slumped onto a bench, tapping his knee and trying to calm his rising anger.

‘It’s okay. If I’m this anxious, Countess Lusiche will be even more anxious. Even if I don’t step in, she’ll do something.’

* * *

Heather hadn’t been sleeping well for days, as she was busy reviewing how the Florandia Temple had been managed during her four-month absence and checking for any unusual incidents.

Only after finishing these urgent tasks could Heather finally speak with the training priests of the children she had taken with her.

In particular, Heather spent the most time with Rishue, the training priest for Ridal and Rembrary.

“If you have any questions about the children, please ask, Priest Rishue,” Heather said.

“Ridal’s spirits have improved considerably, Heather,” Rishue said with a pleased tone.

While Heather was immersed in her backlog of work, Rishue had carefully observed Ridal.

This was because Ridal’s condition before leaving for the central mansion had been concerning.

But the returned Ridal was quite cheerful.

“Ridal has become able to use divine power. I believe that’s the reason why,” Heather explained.

Rishue was even more relieved to hear this.

“That’s a relief. Ridal left feeling dejected. How were the other temple children?”

“They were all similar. Ah, but that child, Lapsus, was definitely amazing.”

“The high-ranking priest’s child?”

“Yes. When we first gathered, he seemed a bit hesitant, so I was worried, but after facing the monster in the second class, he improved rapidly.”

“Is that so?”

Rishue felt a slight pang of jealousy at those words, but he forced a smile.

“I’m jealous, but it’s better to have a strong ally than a strong enemy. How was Rembrary?”

When Rishue asked about Rembrary, Heather’s expression changed noticeably. It was completely different from when she was talking about Ridal.

“Did he cause any trouble?” Rishue asked, worried. Rembrary was a good child, but he wasn’t one to quietly follow the rules.

“He didn’t cause any trouble. From the first day until the first class, he was actually the most outstanding.”

“Only until the first class?”

“Yes. He fainted after seeing the monster in the second class, and after that, he just went with the flow. He didn’t show much enthusiasm…” Heather shrugged.

“The teachers said that he would do anything if asked, but he wouldn’t do anything if not asked.”

Rishue was relieved that Rembrary hadn’t caused any problems.

“Rembrary’s enthusiasm was mostly used for eating,” Heather added with a chuckle.

Rishue was satisfied, thinking that the consultation had gone well.

“Ah,” Heather exclaimed as Rishue was about to leave, as if she had remembered something.

“Yes?”

When Rishue turned around, Heather smiled playfully and added, “Rembrary has achieved a great accomplishment.”

“An accomplishment?”

“The children of Rembrary’s age living in the nearby village have become Redrin [a deity] believers after seeing Rembrary. Even many of the children whose parents worship Lumena [another deity] have converted.”

“!”

“That’s quite a talent, too.”

Rishue gave a troubled smile.

* * *

While Rembrary and Ridal gained peace, Wider, on the contrary, felt worse than ever.

Wider had tried to separate Ridal and Rembrary, but the two children had actually become even closer after this trip.

Ridal’s followers also didn’t harass Rembrary as persistently as before, perhaps because they had reunited after four months.

Wider kicked an iron trash can with a loud bang.

He couldn’t get revenge on Rembrary, and he couldn’t separate Ridal. In the meantime, he began to feel jealous of Ridal.

Wider hated Rembrary, but he didn’t envy him.

Rembrary was someone who belonged to a different world from the beginning and was a very difficult opponent.

On the other hand, Ridal was born into an ordinary family and became an apprentice priest like the other children.

Yet he was always noticeable, and many children liked him. Moreover, he could now use divine power.

‘That Rembrary’ also gave Ridal some leeway.

Wider had tried to get close to Rembrary for four months, but Rembrary didn’t give him the opening he had hoped for.

He didn’t push him away when he approached and talked to him, but he never came to him first.

Wider was even more annoyed when Rembrary seemed to show a little friendship to Ridal.

Then one day, Wider was looking for Rembrary when he overheard Ridal and Rembrary’s conversation.

“My wound was suddenly healed at the night market before. Do you remember?”

“No.”

“You gave me barbecue.”

“I remember that.”

“You only remember what you eat. Anyway, it was healed at that time. Did you heal me with a feather at that time?”

“No.”

Rembrary answered firmly.

Wider was listening to the conversation between the two people from behind a railing when he had an idea.

‘That’s right. Rembrary has some kind of feather, and he heals people with it. I think I can use that?’

* * *

October 30th was the day of the Wind Festival. Since it was a secular festival, the Florandia Temple didn’t need to do anything special that day.

But no matter how strict the temple was, they couldn’t just make the children study every day.

The temple suspended education that day, and the training priests took the children to the nearby Floran territory.

Rembrary wanted to sleep in, but he had no choice but to follow Rishue to the territory.

“Okay, everyone got their name tags?” Rishue checked the name tags that the children were wearing around their necks one by one.

“After watching the festival, you have to come back here. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“If you can’t find your way, show your name tag to the patrolling guards.”

“Yes!”

It was a big festival, so guards were patrolling everywhere, and there were many families around, so it wasn’t dangerous for the children to look around by themselves on days like this.

As Rishue handed out pocket money to the children, they scattered excitedly.

Ridal wanted to ask Rembrary to go with him, but he was surrounded by his followers before he could speak.

‘I should buy something delicious to eat.’ Rembrary hummed and looked for stalls selling food.

Rembrary had more money than what Rishue had given him.

Rembrary decided to eat all the food sold there.

But after wandering around for a while, it was when he visited the store selling grilled meat and fruit in paper cups for the second time that Rembrary heard someone groaning in pain from inside an alley.

Peeking inside the alley while chewing on the meat, he saw someone lying on the ground.

‘Are they hurt?’

Rembrary walked towards them, intending to heal them if they were injured.

The inside of the alley, untouched by the festive atmosphere, felt eerie even in broad daylight.

Rembrary stared at the person lying in the middle of the road and glanced back at the alley entrance.

‘Were they originally lying there?’

When Rembrary had first noticed them, this person was on one side of the alley. It was close enough that Rembrary could hear their voice.

But when he entered, this person was lying in the back alley’s empty space.

‘Did they move?’

As he hesitated, feeling suspicious and not wanting to get too close, the person who was groaning raised their body and smiled.

“You’re a kid with moderately good senses.”

The person who got up didn’t look hurt at all.

“What are you doing?” he asked, suspicious of their attitude. The person who had pretended to be sick smiled fiercely and demanded, “You have a very useful feather, right? Give it to me.”

“What feather?”

“The feather that heals people. It’s no use pretending you don’t know. You’re Rembrary, right? The rumors have already spread.”

Rembrary was impressed by the advice of the highest-ranking priest of Lumena after four months. She had a scary demeanor, but she hadn’t told him anything wrong.

“It’s better to just give me the feather and leave than to have it taken away by a bad person. What would a kid living locked up in a temple do with such a precious feather? Right?”

The person who pretended to be sick came closer to Rembrary, saying ridiculous things.

At that moment, someone appeared from behind Rembrary. Rembrary turned around, thinking it was Rishue or a guard.

However, the person who appeared was covering their face with a mask. Not only that, but the person put a knife to Rembrary’s neck.

“Who are you! Did you come to get the feather too!” the person who pretended to be sick shouted. Instead of answering, the masked man threw a dagger at the person who pretended to be a thief.

The person who pretended to be a thief clutched his stomach, staggered, and fell.

The masked man didn’t speak to Rembrary. He swung his sword as soon as Rembrary turned around.